The present invention is directed to providing inter-communications networks special number service, and, more specifically, to a peering network that routes a special number call from a communications device on a communications network to an answering point based on a parameter, regardless of the technology of communications device, regardless of the technology of the answering point and regardless of the technology of the communications networks.
For many decades, consumer communications services were limited to a line-based telephone connected to the public switched telephone network (“PSTN,” also known as the “circuit switched” network) provided by a local telephone company. Now consumers not only have a choice of service providers, consumers also have several choices in communications technologies. Many consumers have cable television service, high-speed Internet service, wireless telephone service and plain old telephone service (POTS). Because of the redundancy of services, and because many providers have attractive combination packages, consumers are dropping their POTS lines in favor of VoIP telephone service (which may be combined with cable TV, high speed Internet access or both).
One advantage of VoIP telecommunication is that consumers can call anywhere in the world that has a connection to the Internet and a VoIP-enabled communications device. Further, a consumer can disconnect his or her VoIP-enabled communications device in one location, connect it in another location and receive service. One of the drawbacks to VoIP telecommunications is that, because a VoIP communications device can look exactly like a POTS telephone, and can, in fact, be a POTS telephone connected to a VoIP system through a VoIP interface, consumers expect VoIP telephony services to be exactly the same as the familiar POTS telephony services.
One of the largest problems that this consumer expectation causes is in the area of special number service. Such special service numbers include emergency number services. When a caller dials an emergency services number (“9-1-1” in the United States and Canada), he or she expects to be connected to an emergency services operator. Further, the caller expects that the emergency services operator he or she is connected to serves the emergency services zone (“ESZ”) of the caller, which can dispatch local police, fire, ambulance, etc. to the location of the caller.
Prior to recent U.S. government mandates, many VoIP service providers did not provide support for emergency services numbers. Some VoIP subscribers did not realize that emergency services numbers were not supported, which caused many calls for help to go unanswered. This problem is further exacerbated by the fact that VoIP telephones can be moved at will. When a VoIP telephone is moved, there is no assurance that emergency service numbers are supported where the VoIP telephone is now connected and there is no assurance that the call will be answered by an emergency services operator in the ESZ where the VoIP telephone is now located.
Therefore, a problem in the art is that there is no simple, consistent system for routing a call from a VoIP telephone to an emergency services operator that serves the ESZ where the VoIP telephone is located.